I get it

Demna Gvasalia’s Balenciaga Spring/Summer 2017 collection is the most amusing thing I ‘ve registered in fashion sphere since Celine’s set of dresses resembling monstrous plastic-travel-storage –laundry-shopping-bags in 2014. 

Vivid punchy colors neutralized by austere hues, trashy patterns against eternal pinstripes, accessories magnified ad absurdum (looking at you monstrous evergreen bags and way over-the-knee boots) crowned by unapologetic attitude of cold kids of eastern bloc.

Demna was born in 1981, Tbilisi, back-then Soviet Union Georgia, which to me, being a compatriot from former ost-bloc country, brings somehow his persona to my liking at rather subliminal level.  I might be wrong but it seems to me that his work at Balenciaga accentuates approximation, a mode well known to fashion-savvy yet short of resources, putting together ensembles, which roughly resemble their style aspirations. What else is one going to do when a) in retail there is close to nothing, b) even if there is something, it is effectively out of reach?

Demna made a full circle creating a look that inspirationally feeds on non-affluent but put ridiculous price-tag on it.  Now, those with more or less means, both can look similarly in, regardless the pecuniary worth of their outfits (but those who know-they know). Formula perfectly calculated for success. Subversive? Maybe. In any case, Demna, I (think) I get it. And I love it.